You are here:

General classification

In this section, you can obtain information on the damage caused
by pathogenic fungi. There are two different ways to access the
technical fact sheet:

Go through the classification according to taxonomic
levels (classification and nomenclature based on morphological
and sexual characteristics).

Consult the alphabetic index containing the Latin names, synonyms, and English and French names.

Note: This section contains some more technical terminology.
For ready access to information on the damage caused by living or
abiotic pathogenic organisms, you should go to the section entitled
"Types of damage".

Taxonomic classification of fungi

In order to make sense of the infinite diversity of fungal species,
biologists have developed a classification system and a nomenclature
that are based on morphological and sexual characteristics. Taxonomy
consists of the rules that govern the classification and the nomenclature
used to identify species. The highest level employed in taxonomic
systems is the kingdom, and fungi form one of the five kingdoms
of living organisms. Classifying the fungi that belong to this kingdom
is a complex task and one that involves continuous re-examination.

The kingdom of fungi is composed of four divisions:

Ascomycota

Asci and ascospores

Ascomycete fungus

During sexual reproduction, these fungi produce a structure called an ascus (from the Latin word ascus = sac) which contains ascospores.

These "lower" fungi form hyphae that are usually plurinucleate and do not form septa (cross walls).
This taxonomic division is not very important from the standpoint of forest pathology and therefore it is not dealt with on this site.

Classification of other pathogens or organisms

Plants (Kingdom: Plantae)

Parasite plants of plants causing damages to trees are part of the following divisions: